Have you ever noticed the way you function after a night without good sleep? You may be irritable, lack your usual patience, feel like you have no energy and in general just have a lousy day. In addition, new research has found that large sleep debt – the difference between how much sleep we need and how much sleep we get – can increase medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Sleep deprivation can also decrease one’s pain threshold so that we hurt more. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2018 Sleep in America Poll, one in three adults in the United States experience anxiety about not getting enough sleep.
Thankfully, we have the ability to recover from the effects of poor sleep. This begins with a commitment to adopt strategies to improve our sleep by learning what the nation’s leading sleep labs have to say. Adults need to seven to nine hours of sleep each night to achieve optimal and physical well-being. For those people who say “I don’t need that much sleep” research proves this is just not true. There are strategies or skills that can improve our sleep but just like with anything else it takes practice.
According to the neurologist W. Christopher Green it should take about 10 to 20 minutes for a person to fall asleep. The room should be cool and dark with all electronics turned off. “Light from the tv can go through your eyelids, so your brain still processes that you’re being exposed to light” states Ken Wright, director of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Professed night owls can change their sleep patterns to better fit in to a 9-5 world, but must stick to the schedule. Our circadian rhythms are based on light, darkness and the release of the sleep hormone melatonin. “Darkness signals your body to release melatonins and kick-starts the physiological process that promotes sleep” Wright says. To retain a circadian reset inviting exposure to bright natural light is the way to start.
Focus on weekly, not nightly sleep and get age appropriate rest. 2-year-olds require up to 14 hours of sleep a day, 9-years-old as much as 12, while a middle-aged adult should function well with eight hours of sleep. It’s often assumed that older adults require less sleep than others but people over 65 still need seven to eight hours a night. To treat insomnia, The American College of Physicians recommends not melatonin but therapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
A power nap can be an excellent way to make-up for lost sleep. The ideal nap lasts 15-20 minutes and takes place after lunch but before 3:00 pm. Research finds that brief naps reduce sleepiness and improve cognitive performance. It also has stress-releasing and immune effects.
Lastly, to improve your sleep consider your diet and exercise routines. Too much caffeine and or alcohol can disrupt a good night’s sleep. Don’t forget to consider the amount of caffeine in chocolate, sodas, energy drinks and green as well as black tea. Finally, get moving. Our bodies were meant to move. Energy in and energy out adds to our natural rhythms be consistent.
Sweet Dreams!
-Barbara Allyn Barry, M.S.Ed.,LFMT